International Journal of Agriculture and Food Science Technology.

ISSN 2249-3050 Volume 5, Number 3 (2014), pp. 191-196

Research India Publications
http://www.ripublication.com

Low-Cost Polyhouse Technologies For Higher Income

and Nutritional Security
R.K.Yadav, P.Kalia, H. Choudhary, Zakir Husainand BrihamaDev
Division of Vegetable Science, IARI, New Delhi12, India

Introduction
During winter season under north Indian conditions , it is extremely difficult to grow
tomato capsicum, cucurbits, French bean, amaranth etc.in open field condition,
however various types of protected structures have been developed for growing some
high value crops continuously by providing protection from the excessive cold. This
is called greenhouse technology which provides favourable environment condition to
the plants. It is rather used to protect the plants from the adverse climatic conditions
such as wind, cold, precipitation, excessive radiation, extreme temperature, insects
and diseases. It is also of vital importance to create an ideal micro climate around the
plants. This is possible by erecting a greenhouse / glass house, where the
environmental conditions are so modified that one can grow any plant in any place at
any time by providing suitable environmental conditions. Protected technology in
high value vegetable crops can be established as a small scale industry in major
vegetable growing areas of our country by progressive farmers especially in periurban areas.
Production of off-season vegetable nurseries under protected structure has
become a profitable business. The main purpose of raising nursery plants in protected
structure is to get higher profit and disease free seedlings in off season to raise early
crop in protected condition or/and open field condition. The low cost Polyhouseis
economical for small and marginal farmers, who cannot afford huge cost of high-tech
poly house. The temperature inside the poly house is 6-10 0C higher than outsides
during winter. The cold waves during winter season (December to February) do not
enter inside the poly house and inside environment becomes conducive for quick
germination of seed and growth of seedlings.Many times farmers produce good
amount of cucumber, capsicum and tomatoes during main season,which eventually
leads to the market glut and fall in price. On the other hand, due to weather extremes
during winter, it is difficult to grow high value vegetables like tomato, capsicum,
cucumber, gherkin etc. in open condition. Therefore, low-cost polyhouse technology
was introduced for off-season production of vegetable nurseries as well as for raising
crops of high value vegetables.

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Material and methods

An experiment was conducted at the research farm, Division of Vegetable Science,
IARI, New Delhi, during third week of November, 2012-13 by utilizing two types of
low cost polyhouses (polyhouse for raising nursery and crops and low height poly
house for crops). Seedling as well as crops of various vegetables were grown under
these structures. The recommended cultural practices were followed to raise a good
crop. The method of raising vegetable nursery and crop and cost of various protected
structures is given below.
1. Raising nursery under low cost polyhouse:
The low cost poly houses were made with PVC pipes and tied with sutli. These
structures were covered with 700 gauges (200 m) UV stabilized polythene sheet.
The seedlings were raised in two types of containers viz. Polybags and portrays. Welldecomposed and sieved farmyard manure in combination of fym: sand: soil in ratio of
2:1:1 by volume was used as growing media. For cucurbits, the polybags of 9x5 cm
sizes were filled with the above mixture (fym, sand and soil) keeping 2-3 cm vacant
from the top. 3-4 fine holes were made in the bottom of filled bags to drain extra
water during irrigation. The filled bags were kept inside poly house in groups in such
a way that one person can easily sow the seeds and work. A poly house of 10 x 5 m
size could accommodate 8000 polythene bags (9 x 5 cm sizes) on ground. One seed
was sown in each bag during last week of December after treating them with thiram
@ 3g/kg seed. After sowing of seeds, a thin layer of sand was put to fill the top of the
polybags in order to facilitate proper germination and to avoid crust formation.
Immediately after sowing the seed, light irrigation was given by watering can, which
containedcaptaf @ 2ml/litre of water. After one week of sowing again new seedswere
sown where seed germination could not take place. After 30-35 days of sowing, when
the seedlings became 10-12 cm long and four true leaves had emerged, they were kept
outside the polyhouse for 2-3 days for hardening by holding irrigation for two days.
Hardening of vegetable seedlings before transplanting in the main field was very
effective in reducing transplanting shock and also resulted in better crop stand. In the
first week of February when danger of frost was over, the seedling were transplanted
on the northern slope of prepared channels in the field after removing the polythene
bags with the help of blade without distributing the earth ball. After transplanting,
light irrigation was given for better establishment of plants. The vertical space of
polyhouse was occupied by preparation of two stories bamboo benches on which
7000 seedlings of cucurbits were raised in protrays (10 cc) filled with same media in
same way. The cost of construction of polyhouse (50m2) is given in Table 1.
Table1:Low cost polyhouse for raising vegetable nursery.
Size of structure (10m (L) x 5m (W) x 7 (H)) = 50m2
S.No Particulars
Rate (Rs.)
1.

13 PVC pipes (20, 1.25 size)

Rs. 400/-

Expendit
ure (Rs.)
5,200/-

2.

16 PVC pipes (20, 0.75 size)

Rs. 300

4,800/-

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193

3.

Polythene

100 m2

Rs. 19/-

1,900/-

4.
5.
6.

Sutli
Bamboo Bench
Labour charges
Grand Total

1 kg
9 m x1.5 ft. (3 Nos.)
4 Nos.

Rs. 400/Rs. 300/-

400/2,000/1,200/15,500/-

2. Growing crops under temporary protected low height polyhouse:

Vegetable crops like French bean, amaranth and summer squash which are
determinate in growth habit and could not be grown under open field condition during
winter season successfully, they were grown under low height low cost temporary
poly structure which was highly suitable for raising these crops during off season.
Seeds were sown on raised bed during IInd fortnight of November and whole bed was
covered with low height poly structure after sowing and it was made airtight. The
seeds germinated due to conducive environment under protected structures. Once all
the seeds have germinated the polythene sheet was removed daily from both end
during sunny day and again covered in evening to maintain the inside temperature
optimum. All the cultural practices recommended for cultivation of the crops raised
under protected structures were followed. In February when outside temperature was
ideal and frost chances were over, the polythene sheet was removed and structure was
dismantled and kept safely for future use. The cost of construction of temporary
protected low height poly structure is given in Table 2.
Table2:Temporary protected low height low cost poly-house for raising vegetable
crops.
Size of structure (10m (L) x 5m (W) x 3 (H)) = 50 m2
S.No Particulars
Expenditure
(Rs.)
1.
19 PVC pipes ( 20, 0.75size) @ Rs. 300/- per pipe
5,700/2.
3.

4 PVC pipes (20, 1 size) @ Rs. 400/- per pipe

1,600/2
Polythene sheet ( 700 Gauge, 12 x 5m) = 60 m @Rs. 19/- 1,140/per m2
4.
Sutli (1/2 kg)
200/5.
Labour charges 3 No. @ Rs. 300/- Per labour/per day
900/(Total)
9,540/Note: polyhouse structure may last for minimum 3years.

Results and Discussion

Nursery under low cost polyhouse:
The high-tech nurseries are raised in soilless media (cocopeat, perlite and vermiculite
mixture) and the nursery management and plant nutrients supply is a specialized and
tedious work as these soilless media does not contain any nutrients. In soilless media,

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nutrients are applied in the form of N: P: K (1:1:1) @ 140 ppm once a week through
the fine sprinkler to maintain the uniformity in application of nutrients. However, in
our study the fym: sand: soil mixture was used which was found easy to manageeven
by small and marginal farmers. Seedlings were raised in protrays and polybags which
helped in proper germination, provided independent area for each seed to germinate,
reduced the mortality rate, maintained uniform and healthy growth of seedlings, easy
in handling and storing, reliable and economical in transportation.Production of offseason vegetable nurseries under protected structure was found a profitable business.
Higher profit and disease free seedlings were found in off season to raise early crop in
protected condition or/and open field condition. The low cost polyhouses were found
economical for small and marginal farmers, who cannot afford huge cost of high-tech
poly house. By adopting this technique, a cucurbit crop was raised one and a half
months in advance than normal method of direct seed sowing in the field. Similarly
the nursery of other vegetables like, tomato, chilli, capsicum, cole crops etc. can be
raised and sold to get higher profit. The nursery was raised for 45 days under this
structure, however, the same structure can be used for round the years by applying
various types of cladding materials.The economics of raising vegetables nursery is
given below.
Economics of raising nursery under poly house
Size of structure (10m (L) x 5m (W) x 7 (H)) = 50m2
No. of seedlings 8000 (polybags) + 7000 (portrays) = 15,000/Seedling @ Rs.2/= Rs. 30,000/Investment cost (polyhouse, polybags, protrays)
= 15,500 + 5,000 = Rs. 20,500/st
Net profit 1 year (30,000 20,500)
= Rs.9500/Net profit 2nd year (30,000 5000)
= Rs.25000/rd
Net profit 3 year (30,000 6000)
= Rs.24, 000/Low cost polyhouse technology for raising crops
The low cost polyhouses which were used for raising nursery, the same type of
structures was utilized for raising crops during winters. The high value crops like
cherry tomato, gherkin, bitter gourd (gynoecious) and cucumber (parthenocarpic)
were grown during November second fortnight. The temperature inside polyhouse
was 6-100C higher than outside. The cold waves during December-January did not
enter and the growth of the plants were normal. All the recommended cultivation
practices of these crops were followed to raise a good crop. Harvesting of gherkin
started from last week of January. Gherkin recorded Rs. 43,500/- and Rs. 59,000/profit from 1000 m2 area during first year and second year respectively.
Harvesting of cherry tomato was started from midFebruary and net profit of Rs.
33,750/- during first year and Rs. 50,000/- during second year was recorded.
In Bitter gourd (gynoecious) a net profit of Rs. 23,750/- was recorded in first year and
Rs. 40,000/- during second year onwards.
Parthenocarpic cucumber recorded Rs. 37,000/- profit during first year and Rs.
52,500/- during second year onwards.

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Table3: Off-season vegetable production under low cost polyhouse (1000 m2)

Second year onwards profit: - Gherkin: Rs. 59,000/-, Cherry tomato: Rs. 50,000/-,
Bitter gourd: Rs. 40,000/- , Cucumber: Rs. 52,500/The crops were raised for 4 to 5 months duration under polyhouses. However, with
the same structure other crops can also be grown by utilizing different types of
cladding material like shade net etc.
Temporary protected low height polyhouse:
Vegetable crops like, French bean, amaranthand summer squash were grown during
winter season successfully under low cost low height temporary poly structure during
off season from November to February when it was difficult to raise under open field.
French bean was harvested during first week of February. The results showed that
French bean recorded a net profit of Rs. 18,500/- during first year and Rs. 33,000/from second year onwards.Summer squash, which is a bush type cucurbit, harvesting
started from second week of February and it recorded net profit of Rs. 47,250/- in first
year from an area of 1000 m2 and Rs. 59,500/- from second year onwards.Amaranths
harvesting was started from last week of January and it recorded Rs. 15,000/- and Rs.
25,000/- profit from 1000 m2 area during first year and second year respectively.
Table3: Off-season vegetable production under temporary protected (winter
protection)

Low Height Polyhouse (1000 m2)

Second year onwards profit: - French bean: Rs. 33,000/-, Summer squash: Rs.
59,500/-, Amaranth: Rs. 25,000/-

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The structure was utilized for raising crops from November to February. However,
with the same structure other crops can also be grown by utilizing different types of
cladding material like shade net etc.

Conclusion
The off-season nursery production was found profitable under low cost polyhouse of
50 meter square area. Similarly, cultivation of high value off-season vegetables under
low cost protected structures was found a viable technology for growing vegetables
successfully during winterwith temporary protection from November to February. The
produce from protected structures was off-season and hence fetched higher prices in
the market. Under low cost protected structure of 50 m2 a total of Rs. 9500/- was
earned in first year and around Rs. 24,000/-from second year onwards by raising offseason nursery. Similarly a net profit of Rs.15, 000/-and 59,500/- can be earned by
growing French bean and gherkins in first year and Rs. 43,500/- and Rs. 59,000/second year onward from 1000 m2 area respectively. Therefore to enhance income and
to ensure nutritional security of the small and marginal farmers, off-season nursery as
well as vegetables cultivation under low cost poly houses is found to be economical
and profitable enterprise.

References
[1] Kang, B.S. and B.S. Sidhu (2005). Studies on growing off-season tomato
nursery under polyhouse. Annals of Agri Bio Research, 10 (1), pp: 53-56.
[2] Pandey, V.K., S.K. Dwivedi, A. Pandey, and H.G. Sharma (2004). Low cost
polyhouse technology for vegetable cultivation in Chhattisgarh Region. Plant
Archives, 4 (2), pp: 295-301
[3] Saikia, J., H.K. Baruah, and D.B. Phookan (2001). Off season production of
cucumber inside lowcost polyhouse. Annals of Biology, 17 (1), pp: 61-64.